flying buttress

noun

Architecture.

1. a segmental arch transmitting an outward and downward thrust to a solid buttress that through its inertia transforms the thrust into a vertical one.

flying buttress

noun

1. Also called: arc-boutant. a buttress supporting a wall or other structure by an arch or part of an arch that transmits the thrust outwards and downwards

flying buttress

1. An external, arched support for the wall of a church or other building. Flying buttresses were used in many Gothic cathedrals (see also cathedral); they enabled builders to put up very tall but comparatively thin stone walls, so that much of the wall space could be filled with stained-glass windows. The cathedrals of Chartres and Notre Dame de Paris were built with flying buttresses.

Word History and Origins

Origin of flying buttress¹

First recorded in 1660–70

Example Sentences

Through the centuries, the cathedral’s windows were widened and the flying buttresses reconstructed.

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Its tall branches tower above me like flying buttresses, its wide canopy is a sanctuary.

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And then there is the structure itself, with its towering walls of stone, its flying buttresses and its weird populace of gargoyles and grotesques watching the city from on high.

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Giant palm trunks were to be flying buttresses for multiple roofs, which were to be sheathed in pandanus leaves.

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MisheGOTHIC ARCHITECTURE: Pointy arches, ribbed vaults, stained glass, flying buttresses — enough already!

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